- A paper from RIT on “Image restoration from a sequence of random masks” was shared as a potentially DIY-friendly computational-imaging technique.  
- Intel RealSense open-source driver (librealsense) was highlighted as a cross-platform capture library for F200, SR300 and R200 depth cameras, prompting discussion of structured-light vs Kinect-v2 performance.  
- eLife paper “Nanoconnectomic upper bound on the variability of synaptic plasticity” reported EM reconstructions showing at least 26 distinguishable synaptic strengths, implying ~4.7 bits of storable information per synapse.  
- A Nature ISMEJ study on Antarctic permafrost found microbial life near its cold-arid limit, lowering expectations for similar life on Mars.  
- Journal of Neural Engineering paper described “micro-tissue engineered neural networks” (micro-TENNs): agarose micro-columns seeded with cortical or DRG neurons that survive intracerebral injection and form synapses with host rat cortex, offering a minimally invasive bridge for brain repair.  
- CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in human tripronuclear zygotes was noted as a recent advance in germline engineering.  
- Discussion of personal data-recording practices: one participant claims to log all conversations since 2009 via memory plus later transcription, prompting debate on feasibility and cognitive load.  
- Botox injections were discussed as an FDA-approved last-resort therapy for chronic tension-type headaches, with cited cost and insurance-coverage issues.  
- A Scala implementation of the Lightning Network (ACINQ/eclair) was linked as an open-source tool for off-chain Bitcoin payments.  
- Critique of a blog post claiming transhumanism lacks “leadership” because no one can crowdfund 5 000 supporters; channel consensus dismissed the metric as irrelevant.